June 13, 2010
Pentecost 3
Luke 7:36-50
University Pastor James A. Wetzstein
Chapel of the Resurrection, Valparaiso University
36
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and
took his place at the table. 37And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he
was eating in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. 38She stood behind him
at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair.
Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. 39Now when the
Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would
have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him — that she is a sinner."
40
Jesus spoke up and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." "Teacher," he replied,
"speak." 41A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.
42
When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love
him more?" 43Simon answered, "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt." And
Jesus said to him, "You have judged rightly." 44Then turning toward the woman, he said to
Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she
has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. 45You gave me no kiss, but from
the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46You did not anoint my head with oil, but
she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have
been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves
little." 48Then he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." 49But those who were at the table with him
began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" 50And he said to the
woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news
of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, 2as well as some women who had been cured
of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
3
and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided
for them out of their resources.
This is a dangerous story for preaching.
It's dangerous cause as good church folk we run the risk of identifying ourselves with the wrong
character in this story that Luke tells and the one that Jesus tells.
I'm saying this because every conversation that I've had regarding this story (and every sermon
that I've read on this story) assumes that the role for the hearer is that of Simon. Simon, the man
who, on hearing Jesus at the synagogue invites him to his home for Sabbath dinner so that he can
continue to teach. This event at which Jesus is the guest of honor at a banquet (they were
reclining, that's how we know) that would have been called a 'symposium' by the Greek
philosophy schools (a word that I like to remind folks in academic environs means 'to drink
together') So, as I say, I think the natural tendency for church folk is to identify with Simon. But
the problem with that is this: after we work our way through the story and all it's cultural details
(like the fact that we don't know why this woman was considered a notorious sinner, but that it
doesn't really matter, what matters is that Jesus was allowing her to touch him, touch him in a
most intimate manner, a most outrageous manner, like the fact that they were reclining in the
Greek manner, which was reserved for banquet meals in this area at this time, like the fact that
that's how she could have gotten to Jesus' feet without crawling under the table, like the fact that
she had probably heard, Jesus preach (through the windows) at the same synagogue service that
Simon had attended, like the fact that she uses myrrh, but it probably doesn't have any burial
significance here, like the fact that letting down her hair in this culture would have been an
intimate expression, like the fact that kissing Jesus' feet is a sign that she regarded him as a
savior of her life, like the fact that Jesus uses a tactic remarkably like that of Nathan (in today's
Old Testament reading) like the fact that all the things of which Jesus accuses Simon of omitting
are themselves signs of huge gaffes of hospitality on Simon's part… after we're done with all of
that…
We're left with this:
You should love more so that the rest of us know that you know that you've been forgiven. And
you should especially love the outcasts of this age so that you'll know and we'll know that you
really believe that Jesus loves you.
Now, just for the sake of the record, let me say this: "I'm all for loving outcasts."
The problem is this: how do you know when you've loved the outcasts sufficiently to balance the
forgiveness that has been extended to you?
And then there's this: Jesus doesn't say that Simon is supposed to love this woman. Simon's
failure, if you look closely at his story and the one that Jesus tells (in which Simon becomes an
unwitting participant) is that Simon fails to love Jesus because he doesn't believe that Jesus has
any forgiveness to extend to him. He doesn't believe that he's a sinner and he doesn't believe that
Jesus is a prophet (otherwise, he'd know who was touching him). But Jesus IS a prophet, and
more. He does know who's touching him and he knows what Simon is thinking about and his
response to both Simon and this nameless tearful woman goes to the heart of things, just like old
Simeon predicted it would when Jesus was a babe in the arms of his mother at the Temple.
Now, let me reconsider what I said earlier about us not being Simon. I mean, maybe you are. If
you think that you've got things totally under control and are a fabulous example of human life,
then maybe you are Simon. Or if you've got second thoughts about the identity of Jesus and, in
spite of all of the wonderful ideas and actions attributed to him, aren't convinced that he's really
got the goods that we were all claiming for him in the rite of confession and forgiveness at the
beginning of the service, then maybe Simon is your guy.
On the other hand, if you can tick off in your mind the places where things have lately fallen
short of the goal, if you wonder how long you're going to be able to keep all the balls in the air so
that people continue to think that you're as wonderful as they say you are, if you don't like
thinking about this stuff, ‘cause when you do it just makes you sad, if life has broken your heart,
if you were the offspring of parents who made their own mistakes just like their parents before
them and yours was not an immaculate conception, if when people warn you against judging
others because no one is perfect you hate it because they have a point. Well, then we're
connecting with the point of this story. Because the point is not for you to see yourself as Simon,
the point is for Simon and you and me to see us in this woman.
You, who long to live your life well, have heard the reports that being here might have
something to do with that. You probably don't need some preacher to tell you that you're a
sinner; God has been at work in the failures of your life enough to bring you to the conclusion
that we've got to keep working on it. Like sharks, we'll drown if we stop swimming. So we keep
moving forward, keep trying to make something of ourselves. We keep on keeping on. And then,
somewhere along the line we encounter the news that, as the Kingdom of Heaven is proclaimed,
it brings forgiveness to those who long for release from the burden of constantly having to prove
ourselves, from constantly having to prove our worth and for those whose life story includes a
chapter in which everything breaks down and all is lost, the Kingdom of Heaven announces a
fresh start. When Jesus comes, it is forgiveness, not failure that defines you life.
So you come. You come to be with Jesus who promises forgiveness and you bring your gifts in
homage of his presence and once here you find yourself invited to dine with him. He welcomes
you to a table that we thought we set but at which he is both host and feast. This same Jesus
invites you to eat with him, to feast on his own life.
What's not to love?